The Anime Club has been approved by Student Senate and is now in session Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m. in E 369. The Observer sat in on the club’s Feb. 17 meeting to see what it is all about.
Ray Florent, parliamentarian of the NECC Student Senate, said, “This is one of the most energetic, friendly clubs on campus.” He and a few other senators have been stopping by the past few weeks to check out how things are going.
As part of the Senate, Florent has seen this club go from an idea on paper to a functional group. At the last Senate meeting of the Fall semester, the Anime Club brought their declaration before the senate. The Senate approved funding for the club on Jan. 27 at their first meeting.
The club has met three times since getting their charter. Originally, they were meeting in room E155, but due to a scheduling conflict, they were moved to a smaller space in E369.
Jennifer Lebron, club president, explained that there were three separate initiatives to start an anime club of sorts. Jason Almanzar, vice president, Cassie Stell, treasurer, and Lebron all had their own attempts in the works to form anime clubs.
“There were three groups of people trying to make anime clubs,” said Lebron, “and then we all found each other, came together and made this one.”
The club draws crowds of upwards of 20 students and alumni.
Troy Lamontagne graduated NECC last spring, but comes back to visit friends and take part in the club and its activities.
“I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about,” said Kira Yarid. “I’m a huge fan of digital art.” She said she likes her anime “out there for out there’s sake,” leaning towards the “toonier” stuff, she said.
The club is hoping to make and sell T-shirts to raise money for trips to Anime Boston or ComicCon. Different members of the club are trying their hands at different designs they think would represent the club well. At the beginning of the meeting, members showed off their artwork as their peers gave supportive critiques and made excitable noises.
Stell handed out different manga to members of the club to go through. Club members spoke about their favorite characters and plot lines among themselves while the officers of the club got the main activity set up.
The main activity was called “What’s That Weapon?,” a slideshow game that Stell had created.
The club was broken up into different teams and asked to identify different weapons that belong to different characters in iconic anime storylines.
“What’s That Weapon?” filled the room with the competitive, fun energy that Florent had been raving about.
Lebron said that they are trying to have a line of succession to keep the club going. If one of the officers graduates, they want to ensure they’re club will be passed on with the same direction.